PUTRAJAYA, Oct 1 — The requirement for individuals to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to enjoy the easing of restrictions in social and economic sectors still applies to all phases of the National Recovery Plan (PPN), said Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
He said the Cabinet at its meeting today agreed that every form of relaxation announced before this be implemented on condition that the full vaccination status applies for all phases of PPN.
In a statement, he said this was followinng the latest developments regarding the transitioning of PPN phases for all states and the dominant position of the Delta variant, which made up 94.9 per cent of the new variants detected in the country.
“This decision was made after taking into consideration the safety of the people’s lives, (the need for) strengthening of the country’s public health system and smooth reopening of the economy, as well as ensuring the government’s efforts to begin the transition process to the endemic phase is undertaken safely,” he added.
Khairy said individuals who could not be vaccinated for health reasons should provide the relevant health information which has been verified by medical officers.
Kedah, Penang, Perak, Kelantan, Johor and Sabah are now in Phase Two, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Selangor, Melaka, Perlis, Pahang, Terengganu and Sarawak are in Phase Three, and Negeri Sembilan and Labuan are in Phase Four of the four-phase PPN.
Khairy said an individual is considered fully vaccinated 14 days after completing the second dose of the Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines, while recipients of single-dose vaccines such as Johnson & Johnson and CanSino are categorised as fully vaccinated after 28 days from the date of injection.
He said the country’s ability to exit the pandemic would depend not only on the government’s efforts and strategy but also on the people’s level of compliance with the standard operating procedure (SOP) that was set.
“If the people become complacent due to the relaxation given, it is not impossible for the situation on infections to take a turn for the worse again,” he said.
Khairy said the details on the SOP for the national recovery phase would be announced by the National Security Council soon.
